Chocolate Cinnamon Iced Coffee

Yes, I know you can end up drinking a lot of calories with iced coffee, but this one is so delicious and is only as caloric as your choice of dairy. The secret is a good chocolate sugar-free syrup and a good quality, fresh cinnamon. This is not an HMR food, but it fits in the 'additional' items you can have on that diet. (except maybe for the creamer. but you can make that work, too.)

1. Fill a tall glass with ice cubes. Not jammed together, just stacked on each other. about 10 cubes.)
2. Add a tablespoon of Torani sugar free chocolate syrup. Don't be stingy; remember tha ta cold drink needs more flavoring because of the temperature you are drinking it at.
3. Shake in a half teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of good cinnamon. Not the stuff in that big jar that you bought three years ago. Get some sticks and grind them up in your coffee grinder, or buy some fresh stuff in a small bottle. I got a jar of Penzeys Cinnamon for Christmas. Really good mix!
4. Brew a 6 oz. cup of medium to dark roast coffee right on top of those ice cubes. (I use a Keurig brewer, and I place the glass right under the spout.) Otherwise, just add about 6 oz. from your carafe.
5.Add 2 tablespoons fat free half and half (20 calories), or almond milk (10 calories - and that's 'in the box'.)  Stir and enjoy.


 I like it as a pick-me-up at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Great for these hot summer days. Of course, you can make this as a decafe, too.

(Sorry, no picture.)

Mocha Supreme

I looked up the word "Mocha" online, and I discovered that it is actually a type of coffee bean from Africa. I love learning new stuff. Here I was, thinking that mocha was a blend of chocolate and coffee flavors. I guess a lot of other people think that too, including people at Starbucks and McDonald's. Here's a mocha flavored shake in the 'chocolate plus coffee' sense. I have a French press and a Keurig brewer. I think the French press will brew coffee stronger, so it is better for this shake, keeping the chocolate flavor of the shake mix from overwhelming the coffee flavor. It's a great single beverage, instead of bringing both a mug of coffee (for the caffeine) and a shake (for the nutrition) with you when you're running late to work. I brew a full 2 cup carafe of French press coffee in the morning on a weekend, pour a cup, let the press stand for an extra 10 minutes, or so, and then put the extra cup in the fridge, covered, to use on Monday morning in my shake. Here's the recipe:

1 cup coffee, cold

1 scoop chocolate shake mix

8 to 10 ice cubes

Put the cold coffee in the blender, set to stir. While blender is stirring, quickly add chocolate powder. Set blender to 'mix' (medium) and add ice cubes. 

Variations:

add a half teaspoon of almond extract OR cinnamon (not together, please) when you add the powder, or use your favorite flavored coffee.

Caramel Coffee Shake

This shake uses a great caramel flavoring that I originally bought for a coffee flavoring, but it translates really well to this shake. I've made this with both chocolate and vanilla flavor shake powders, and I prefer the vanilla flavor, but I can certainly enjoy either one. The flavoring syrup was purchased online, from a company called 'Coffee A.M.' over a year ago. They carry a different brand now. I've seen the Dolce online in other places, but I'll let you do the investigating yourself. Google 'dolce syrup' and you should be able to find it available at several online shops. A plain, strong coffee works well for this, and it works better if the coffee is chilled. The recipe as written calls for a tablespoon of caramel flavoring, but I have admittedly used more at times.  Here's the recipe:

1 cup cooled coffee

1 tablespoon sugar-free caramel flavoring

1 scoop either vanilla or chocolate shake powder.

8 - 10 ice cubes

Add the coffee to the blender container. Begin stirring at low power. Add the caramel flavoring and the shake powder. increase power to medium speed. Add ice cubes one at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Pour and enjoy.